


Surprise me?

by MilkyPotus



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Baker! Amy, Bakery, Bi!Rosa, Detective! Rosa, F/F, Falling In Love, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Murder, Pining Rosa, Slow Burn, also kind of serious, bi!amy, eventual mutual pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-04-30 22:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14506848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkyPotus/pseuds/MilkyPotus
Summary: Rosa Diaz was not known for fooling around, especially when it came to an important case. However, when a cute girl becomes the next target in her case, she can't help being foolish.





	1. pleasant intro

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this was just a shitty intro into this story. Im just going to polish some things up before starting to post more

Rosa diaz could only groan and kick at the busted bike in front of her, angry at the cheap piece of metal and angry at the entire situation that was unfolding. She tugs away the purple beanie and throws it on the floor angrily, clenching her fists so hard that it actually hurts. 

Captain Holt had ordered her to come down here to survey the streets incase of a wanted arsonist and a first degree murderer was walking around, but he had denied her access to her normal clothes and her motorcycle, and put Peralta incharge of clothes and getting Rosa a way of transportation. 

She knows Peralta has a weird sense in fashion, but dressing her up in a pink hoodie and a pair of jeans that were two sizes bigger than her usual size, and opting on giving her a bicycle to go around with made this just dandy. 

Rosa would’ve rather burned along with the five victims than ride on it. Or something like that. She growls and kicks her beanie away again, getting more sand and dirt on it. Serves it right for being so vibrant. 

Rosa had been waiting for over three hours now, not getting any updates from her CI’s or Jake, and she was fastly getting impatient, since there was nothing happening. She leaned the bike against a building nearby and looked around. The streets were filled to the brim with cafes and other stores, and people were walking around and chatting happily all around. 

Why an arsonist chose a bussy street full of people, Rosa does question, but there were disadvantages for her if he did choose to strike here. It would be much harder to spot the person, and it would make it harder for the cops to arrive. 

She did however smell a rather intriguing smell from one of the shops from where she was standing, and she decided to go see where the source was coming from. Expecting it to come from one of the cafe’s, she was unsurprised and surprised that the strong scent of vanilla and lavender came from a bakery at a street corner. 

The bakery was rather small, but there were still people seated in the few places available in the small shop. She decides to screw it and buy something, since Peralta still hasn’t said anything and nothing was on fire. 

Rosa walks into the shop, immediately noting the pleasant smell in the air as she breathes in deeply through her nose. She walks up to the counter, and when she sees nobody there, she plings at the small call-bell on the counter. 

There is an instant response, as she hears somebody yell ‘’Coming’’ from the backroom that was covered with a plain white curtain. It took less than four seconds before the curtains were pulled to the side and a small but happy girl came out, holding a batch of eclairs in her other hand. 

The smiling girl put the tray down on the counter and took off the oven mitt, placing it on the display with baked goodies besides the counter. Rosa swallowed audibly, having taken notice to the girls rather attractive features. 

She had her long raven hair pulled into a ponytail, she wore a rather town white t-shirt and an apron on top that was a light pink, but Rosa was more into the hue and shine of her skin, and her much smaller frame that seems to be glowing. 

‘’Welcome! Do you want to buy something, or just waiting for a pick up?’’ The girl asks, her smile seeming endless and Rosa has to cough to make herself snap out of it and answer her question. 

‘’I just, Wanted to buy a muffin.’’ Rosa replies, taking a step closer to the counter and unintentionally stepping on her other foot clumsily. She must look like a complete weirdo, with clothes that did not match her personality and an inelegant behaviour. Which was very much unlike Rosa.

‘’You’re going to have to be more specific than that, we have a huge variety of muffins.’’ The girl answers back and Rosa blinks. She hasn’t even had time to think of what to buy before ringing the bell. 

‘’Uh, Surprise me?’’ Rosa answers unsure, and the girl behind her stops to look at her, a mild expression on her face. Her eyebrows were perked up and her soft eyes were staring at her, seeming to be the shade of caramelized sugar, and Rosa would bet that her skin tastes like caramel. 

‘’You sure?’’ She asks and Rosa nods, so the girl picks up a brown bag from the counter and walks to the muffin section, opening the counter from behind and looking through all the muffin sorts.    


Rosa only focuses on the way her eyes narrowed when she was scanning through each muffin, or how her bending over to grab a muffin gave her the perfect view of her cleavage. Rosa looks away, clearly alarmed by her thoughts.

She decided to instead look around at the walls that were filled with books, and there was not a single shelf that wasn’t perfectly organized and filled. There seems to be natural lighting from the sun that was coming through long windows and the room was warm and smelled delicious. 

Rosa hasn’t read the name of the bakery, seeming to have missed it on the way in, and it was silent as most customers were working or reading. It seems to be a mix of old ladies and college students. 

‘’All done, that’ll be 2.95’’ The girl says and Rosa pulls out three dollars before leaving without a word, taking her muffin with her and walking back to her bike that was parked a block away. She leans against the building before pulling out the muffin in the brown bag. 

Rosa examines the muffin with furrowed eyebrows, seeming to be a normal chocolate one with nothing special on top, and she was confused as to why the raven-haired girl would choose this one. She sighs and bites into it, and her eyes flew open. She chews on the muffin, and there was a filling of vanilla and mint inside of it, and the warm texture of the muffin with the coldness of the cream made Rosa’s eyes flutter close. 

It was delicious. 

She looks at the muffin, _ happy that she now has a real reason to go back there.  _


	2. Buns on fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter showcases the notes of the case and Rosa slowly realizing the situation.

\--

_ John Doe #378 _

_ Arsonist, Murderer _

_ Five victims, five fires, five irrelevant locations.  _

_ No witnesses, no injuries _

_ Strikes at dawn, when the sun starts rising. Not a minute before, Not a minute after.  _

_ No known survivors.  _

_ First victim was a priest in an unused church by the end of new york. He was silently praying before the fire, and when it started he took it as a sign from god and stayed. No suspects.  _

_ Second victim was a highschool student, alone after a frat party downtown. She was hungover during the fire, thus not being able to flee. No outstanding suspects, only the students that attended the party.  _

_ Third victim was a hotel owner, burned in one of his own hotels under construction. The victims wife had said he was out on a business trip, yet the assistant was having an affair with the victim. two potential suspects, the wife and the mistress.  _

_ Fourth victim was a P.E teacher, teaching in another high school than the second victim in a higher ranked location, was missing for three days before the body was found in the sewers, burned along with a picture of her husband. Suspect, husband and son.  _

_ Fifth victim was a psychologist, said to be distant from others except for his patients. Was killed then burned in his own flat. The house had no indication of any family or relations to the victim, so no further suspects.  _

 

‘’Detective Diaz! They presume that the arsonist you’ve been following up on has struck again and lit a bakery on 8th street on fire, the _ ‘Hot Crossed Buns’. _ I want you and Peralta to get there instantly and gather potential information for this case, along with witnesses !’’ Holt’s dismissive voice booms from his office door, and Rosa immediately gets up and grabs her leather jacket. 

It was too early for her to be going to the field, not having been able to sleep for more than three hours as she and peralta were rummaging through file after file trying to find something to work on, and away from this dead end they had hit. This has gotta do it, except she knows the killers M.O. they don’t leave anything behind, just a body. 

Jake comes to her, he himself wearing his leather jacket and trying to untie his badge from a fork. ‘’Can I get a ride on your motorbike?’’ He asks, grinning when the fork is untangled from his badge and he carelessly throws it on his desk. 

‘’Why? You’re deathly afraid of riding with me.’’ She questions, but still allows him to follow her down to the first level, where her motorcycle was waiting for her. 

‘’Yes , but you know I had to sell my car to get Terry his money back’’ He answers back and caught the spare helmet she throws at him. ‘’Also, what do you think their motives were to light a bakery on fire? Too many undercooked cookies and muffins?’’

She rolls her eyes, but still lets a small laugh. ‘’Alright, get on. Also no jokes at the crime scene’’

 

\-    -

 

Rosa couldn’t be more horrified as they pulled up to the address, as she was now standing in front of the bakery she had been to two days prior and it was in a much worse shape. The windows were busted and there was still smoke coming out of them, the entire inside seems to be black and grey and there was a waft smell of butter in the air around it. 

Smelled like the theaters, and it certainly was as crowded as one. 

There were several people standing around the scene and murmurs and whispers are coming from all directions, so it was going to be hard to work in silence as she gathers as much information about the fire, and hopefully someone witnessed the arsonist in action.

She and jake pull out their badges as beat cops are asking their identities, informing them about the time of the event, at sunrise, but it surprises Rosa that the killer choose such an open field. And both her and Jake were shocked when they heard that the victim inside survived. 

Either this was another arsonist, or their case had just gotten a hole lot more complicated. This could either indicate that their case now has a living victim or that this was the act of another arsonist on the same path, but less experienced. 

But the sound of an air horn going off behind her and Jake made them stop, as they turned and noticed Fire marshall Boone standing there with his fire department crew, media and reporters interviewing the firemen as Boone himself makes his way to the detectives. 

‘’Look what the rats brought in’’ He simply states and she and Jake simultaneously groan.

‘’This is not happening’’ Jake snarls and points at the fire crew. ‘’This is our case, we were assigned to it weeks before you! Don’t be a vulture man, it isn’t cool’’ 

‘’And if we had gotten it earlier we might’ve found the arsonist, don’t you think?’’ Boone replies instead and Rosa rolls her eyes. She grabs Jake’s arms and tugs him away, so that Boone can’t overhear them. 

‘’Alright, you’ll just have to distract them, that would at least give me a few minutes to interrogate the owner and get a list of the co-workers.’’ She curtly says and leaves, hinting that her statement wasn’t something he could argue about. Jake did as he was told and she continued through the crowd to the witness.

The man was pacing around, cursing under his breath and scratching at his hair anxiously. Rosa stops him when she was standing three feet away from him, gaining his attention and explaining who she was and what she was here to do, which made him sigh in relief. 

He seemed to be an average man, not dressed in anything but bland colors that made him invisible in the new york eye, and not really pleasing as well, especially when he was wearing a frown deeper than a sinkhole along with an alarming shade in his eyes.

Potential suspect, insurance fraud is usual, and burning a place down is an easy way.  

‘’Name and Age?’’ Rosa asks, taking out her notebook from her back pocket and looking back at the middle aged man, who was sitting down at a bench in front of the bakery now. The man answers back quickly, and she writes down ‘’Charles Boyle, M, 47’’

‘’So, do you have a list of all the employees that work at the bakery?’’ 

‘’Oh, we don’t have a list, but that’s because there are only two people who work at  _ hot crossed buns _ , me and Amy.’’ He says back, and Rosa raises an eyebrow. Amy seems to be a perfect name for the girl she saw two days ago, and she briefly wonders were she was. She can’t have been a part of the crime, could she?

‘’Only two for a well run bakery? How come?’’ She continues asking, and the man shifts in his place uncomfortably, his eyes averting from Rosa’s cold stare. 

‘’Well, there is always the reason that I can get very . . . Serious in the kitchen, and Amy was the only employee that stood up and talked to me about it.’’ He explains, and Rosa’s raised eyebrow does not go away ‘’Since then, it has been good revenue for the bakery, since the customers don’t hear me scream that often’’ 

‘’Oh, so. You two are married?’’ Rosa carefully asks, and Charles shakes his head. 

‘’God no, Amy is like a daughter to me’’ He quickly says, then sighs ‘’I really hope she’s okay, she really seemed shaken up when she was taken to the hospital, and the cops wouldn’t even let me leave to check on her’’ Charles says the last part under his breath as his eyes narrowed, but Rosa just ignored that. 

‘’She was the one there when the fire started?’’ She gets a nod at that, and she signals for Jake to come over and finish the rest of the questions off. She informs Holt before leaving to the hospital, and she hopes that the damage to Amy aren’t as bad as the last five victims of her case. 

_Or that this would mean the killer would want to finish the job_.   
  



	3. Hospital doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im going to write only a few more chapters, 3 or 4, that are basically going to 1) show what happens during the case and 2) what happens after.  
> Those will be significantly longer and will take time, sorry.

\--  
John Doe #378  
Arsonist, Murderer  
Six victims, six fires, six irrelevant locations.  
One witness, treatable injuries  
Strikes at dawn, when the sun starts rising. Not a minute before, Not a minute after.  
One known survivors. 

 

Going through the nearby hospitals doors, she immediately flashes her badge to a nurse working at the reception and asks for a Amy brought in the last hour because of burned damage, and the nurse checks through her computer. 

Taking a while to log into the files of the patients in the hospital, and Rosa paces back and forth in front of the desk. While the nurse scrolls through patients files, she thinks about how little she thought this through, or why this felt so different from other victims she had to question at hospitals. 

She was not here because of a family member or the squad being hurt, she was not here to ask any one out, and she was definitely not here to lose focus of the case. Rosa was going to do nothing more except to question a baker, a stranger, yet she was nervous. She had done this over a hundred times! 

She has meet hot girls before, yes, and most of them were not even interested in the same gender so she doubted this one, Amy, would be different in any way. Side note, she really needed to stop thinking about off topic subjects that have nothing to do about the case. 

Not here to lose fous. 

The nurse stops scrolling and informs Rosa about where Amy was, pointing toward the right hall and saying that ‘’Amy Santiago is in room 109’’ and Rosa nods at her, instantly heading there without giving the nurse another look. 

She reads the signs on the door, from 98 to 108, then stopping at the supposed door where a Amy Santiago was in, in either critical condition or lucky enough to have escaped in time. Rosa has to pause before opening the door, taking a deep breath and pushing down the handle carefully, not to make much noise. 

She is immediately meet with a head full of raven hair cut short, shorter than the last time she saw Amy. 

When closing the door after her, more of a slam because of a gush of wind suddenly entering the open window, said girls head turns dramatically towards Rosa’s direction. She swears that everything was suddenly in slow motion, as she watches the light from the window shining down on caramel skin, a pair of dark eyes gleaming as they lock on her and her hair framing her face and start of her neck oh so delicately, flowing ever so gently to the wind. 

That is also when she notices the patches of kerlix dressings wrapped around her neck and upper shoulder, as the hospital gown only covers most part of her torso. There are soft kling dressings wrapped around her fingers and Rosa wonders where else she has bandages. She is also pleased to see that Amy got out before the fire had consumed her, which would have been much more critical.

Rosa has to mentally shake away those thoughts, and she takes noticed to the perched eyebrow on the other girls face, choosing to introduce herself as she stepped closer to the bed. ‘’Im detective Rosa Diaz, the detective assigned to find out who burned down your bakery.’’ 

‘’So it wasn’t just the oven malfunctioning? It has happened before.’’ Amy asks, and Rosa shakes her head, unsure if she should tell her about the Arsonists. She decides to wait out for it until she gets clearance from Holt. 

‘’We have other suspicions about what happened, nothing I can go so far into’’ 

‘’So what is this? An interrogation?’’ 

‘’Yes’’ 

There is a silence as they just stare at each other, Amy with furrowed eyebrows and a cold stare while Rosa calmly stares back, as if they are having an eye contest. Rosa would have obviously won, since Amy had rolled her eyes and leaned down on the forward tilting bed.

Rosa took that as her que to start. She sits down on the chair beside the hospital bed. ‘’Name and age?’’ 

‘’Amy Santiago, 35’’ Rosa pulls out the small notepad from the inner pocket of her jacket, flipping it open rather unnecessarily hard, and flicking away the lock of the ballpoint pen. 

‘’When did you come in to the bakery?’’ 

‘’5;15’’ 

‘’That's precis’’ Rosa states blatantly, and hears a small huff com from in front of her . She quickly scribbles down onto the note, then turns her gaze back at the other girl. 

‘’I'm alway in at that time to bake the dough and let it set, then Charles, the owner, joins me at 6;30’’ Amy further explains and Rosa nods, writes down a sentences, then underlines the time Amy had mentioned Charles coming in at. The owner had been at the scene near 5:50. 

Rosa coughs and looks back up at Amy, who was curiously trying to have a peak at what she was writing. ‘’Did you see anything weird that morning? Anything out of place and unusual?’’ 

‘’Definitely that when the fire started, I couldn’t find the fire extinguishers we usually keep under the counter. But we usually change them every month, so it could just be Charles forgetting to restock them’’ Amy shrugs, and Rosa sighs. This isn’t looking so good for the owner, they have to take him back in for question. 

Also, judging by the higher pitch in Amy’s voice at her talking about forgetting to restock the extinguishers, Rosa knew she was rethinking the thought. 

‘’It feels like even you’re doubting that, so i'm going to write down theft as well.’’

Due to the fact that they are still unsure of how Amy plays into their case, they forbid her to be visited from anyone outside of the 9-9 and Charles, who Amy argued whole heartedly to have as company because she would not negotiate in any conversations other wise, which was a rather bold move that made Rosa respect her much more. 

The woman’s got some spice.

She was exactly Rosa’s type, and Rosa desperately wanted to smash plates against a wall. Hopefully something will make her realize that this is insane , probably that Amy is surely not even gay, cause Rosa can not interfere in this case because of emotional issues. 

So before leaving the hospital, she gives Amy a red top hat she finds in one of the gift shops, saying that it's a tradition for her to get something for a victim. 

At least that will do for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you check out my Tumblr, MilkyPotus , you will see small promo's of this fic. :)


	4. Refreshing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosa might not be so upset to be stuck with a stranger for however many days, and Amy is somehow feeling the same.  
> Watch them learn and accept each other.

She took in Charles Boyle for questioning in the interrogation room, and she swears she has never seen a man look so nervous and so emotionless whilst eating hard boiled eggs, and she was seriously doubting her suspicion. 

He looks far too . . . _pathetic_. 

She enters the interrogation room after looking at him through the one way mirror for three minutes, trying to read him ‘’So Mr. Boyle - ‘’

‘’Please just call me Charles, last names make me nervous’’ He quickly cuts in, putting down a half eaten egg in the plastic bag.

‘’Alright,  _ Charles,  _ mind telling me why you were at your bakery forty minutes before your shift starts?’’

‘’I'm the owner, shifts don’t really apply to me nor Amy. Also, I was there earlier than usual because I was going to tell Amy some important news, but when I got there, the entire place was already a blaze.’’

‘’Anyone who can confirm that?’’

‘’Yes, the taxi chauffeur. He’s the only one who is allowed to drive me after an incident. ‘’ Her eyebrows twitch and she writes down that Charles might have a possible alibi, but he was really not making her suspicion go away.

‘’There are a lot of incidents around you, why’s that?’’ He shifts uncomfortably in his chair and Rosa has a feeling she will regret hearing what this man will say.

‘’Let’s just say that when it comes to food, I can get aggressive.’’ Rosa groans and massages her temples, this man was trying to frame himself. ‘’It was about five months ago’’ That was around the same time the fire’s started ’’ I was having a pleasant chat with the driver about the delicacy of a simple omelette and then I hear the most unbelievable thing in the world.’’

‘’Which is?’’

‘’The guy salts his eggs after serving them!! What kind of animal does that!?’’ Boyle answers angrily, slamming his eggs down on the table with a force that mashes some of them. Rosa regretted not allowing Peralta to talk to him.  ‘’So anyway, the driver took it up in court and sued for emotional distress because of my, may I add, VERY important tips and I was not allowed to use that taxi company, except for Tony’’

‘’That’s . . . ‘’ Rosa quickly writes down ‘food addict’’ on her notepad ‘’ interesting’’

‘’That was not the first time it has happened, i'm used to it by now’’ Charles adds, and Rosa begrudgingly writes that down. What an odd man. She skimmed through the notes she had written about Boyle, and noticed something she had underlined twice. 

‘’We checked through your bank statements and noticed a huge withdrawal three months ago, cash. Is there anything you want to say about that?’’

“That I spent it all buying a food truck that eventually also burned down. “ there is a pause “no i'm not joking, one of my employees i fired was angry enough to torch that down, but he got caught after three days.” The theme for today is brought to you by arsonists, the easiest way to make something and/or someone disappear is, and you guessed it, with fire. Hilarious.

She decides to ignore questioning the second part, even though it could be important to the case. She doubts that but writes down to question Charles about it later. ‘’Why would you, a well known bakery owner who only hires one employee, have a side business?’’

‘’That’s part of the important news that I was going to tell Amy. After it got torched, I was given back the same amount of money as Amy had invested in it, and probably back 30 years of my life that was wasted in screaming.” Charles happily informs her, and Rosa does a double look at her notes and sighs.

“And the money you earned from the side business was for..?” She reforms her question, hoping that he would just give her a goddamn answer.

“Me and my girlfriend are trying to adopt a child and we needed the extra money” he answers and Rosa nods and says with a deadpan look.

“ _Congratulations_ , you’re now our number one suspect until we can confirm your alibi”

“WHAT? How?? That’s OUTRAGEOUS!”

“Find out where you were on these five days and times so that we can rule you out as a suspect, have a witness and don’t leave town” she tells him, then rips out a page from her note book and hands it to him. He nods slightly and she gets up and opens the door, gesturing that he was allowed to leave as well.

When she walks him out of the precinct, she turns to the bullpen and was greeted with Captain Holt standing by her desk, staring intently at the file about this case. “Uh captain? Anything you want?”

“Yes, I want you to give the victim my regards and telling her that there is a safe house on the outer side of New York, and that it is recommended for her to stay there until investigation is over” He states out blankly, then nods for her to continue and leaves for his office, passing by Gina who was passive aggressively typing in her phone.

Rosa was kind of glad that he had asked her instead of Peralta. He and Amy were getting a bit chummy with each other after just meeting, which was both disgusting and infuriating.

Damn Peralta and his boyish looks. She has to up her game level.

 

\--

 

_‘’Do you always wear that jacket?’’_ Amy asks Rosa when she was coming in, pointing at the leather jacket Rosa is currently wearing. Rosa has never understood how nobody notices the clear differences between her jackets. 

‘’No, I have multiple. This one has the least blood on it’’

‘’Good to know?’’ Amy questions mostly to herself, but Rosa shrugs. She gives Amy a white paper bag and gets a questioning look from her.

‘’Blueberry muffin from a bakery nearby, doubts it’s as good as the ones you guys used to make.’’ She casually says, and Amy takes the bag with a content smile on her face. Rosa subtly watches her from the corner of her eyes as she sips the black coffee she had also gotten, enjoying the bitterness of it.

Amy’s uninjured hand reaches in for the muffin, her small finger pulling up the dark red and blue dessert, and Rosa takes notice to the way Amy licks her lips before biting into it

‘’What a fun surprise, thanks’’ Amy smiles brightly after being done chewing on it, and Rosa swears that the room seemed to suddenly light up around them, warming her up. She gulps and mumbles out a your welcome, then they fall into a comfortable silence of Amy eating her muffin and Rosa sipping away at her drink.

‘’Do you have any idea what’s going to happen to the bakery?’’

‘’We went to gray star mutual and they allowed you and Charles to get the insurance money, ‘’ She sees Amy sigh in relief  ‘’though you have to find a new location for the bakery, since the last place is now a hazard’’ and now there’s a groan.

‘’Oh god, it took us three years to finally get four and a half stars! Charles is probably weeping and dressed in black again.’’ Amy slumps , crumbling the paper bag onto a ball and then making an impressive shot at the trash can on the other side of the room, which landed in.

‘’That explains today's meeting.’’ Rosa says and Amy lets out a huff of a laugh, making Rosa give away a small smile. ‘’And you don’t have to worry about that, cause your desserts are to die for’’ And she never uses that phrase, so she means it.

‘’What do you know? Have you ever even tried one of our pastries?’’ Amy asks, and that is when Rosa remembers that when she did buy a muffin from them, she had been dressed in ridiculously bright clothes and had pink fake hair in between the layers of her black hair, much to her objection.

Since they also do get a lot of customers every week, she understands why Amy can’t remember her specifically, and she chooses not to bring up the most embarrassing part of her adult life. ‘’No, but I’m sure of it’’

This was so unnatural for Rosa that she has honestly no idea how she manages to sound sappy but with a blank voice, but the way that one statement makes Amy’s eyes shimmer and her already smiling lips to widen further, and she has a feeling Amy will say something she would regret saying specifically to Rosa.

‘’Aww! The tough detective has a soft spot!’’ She hears the childish giggle and groans, leaning her head back and rolls her eyes. ‘’So, can you finally tell me something about this case you’re working on?’’

‘’I got clearance from my captain, so yes’’ The sheer look of surprise on Amy’s face makes Rosa feel confused, a feeling she hated. Nevertheless, she continues talking ‘’so since you are the only victim so far that has survived the fire, we are more than positively sure you are still the arsonist target’’ Rosa lastly exclaims and Amy’s head perks up at that as she frowns.

‘’That is not… great’’ She lets out, and Rosa is surprised by the lack of screaming she was often meet with at situations like these. She watches the perplexed look on Amy’s face and decides to sit down and wait it out.

It never comes.

‘’Am I going to die?’’ Amy suddenly mumbles out, and Rosa gaze returns to her, an eyebrow raised at that. Of course she wasn’t, Rosa and the rest of the 9-9 were not going to allow that to happen. ‘’Was the muffin a way to make this easier for me?’’

‘’No, the muffin had nothing to do with it’’ Though Rosa can see why Amy thought it did ‘’You’re in potential danger, yes, but we are going to quarantine you in a safe house outside of new york, until we catch the arsonist.’’ Rosa reassuringly tells her, but Amy seems to still be in shock at what she has learned, only this time letting out a harsh remark.

‘’And that’s supposed to make me feel better?’’

‘’That you’re going to be safe and protected by high class detectives?’’ Rosa shows curiosity at the thoughts that were going through Amy, who seemed to be so far a very reasonable person.

‘’Alright. What happens if I refuse?’’ Amy challenges, clear annoyance at the edge of her voice, and Rosa cringes.

‘’ I don’t recommend that, as this arsonist is very dangerous and wanted for homicide’’ Rosa replied curtly and Amy’s frown does not disappear.

‘’Is Charles also going in with me?’’

‘’No, he will be placed in a different safe house, a few blocks away.’’

‘’Do you have any idea who the killer can be?’’

‘’We have our suspects, that is all I can say’’ Rosa can see the gears moving in Amy’s head as she silently contemplates her choices, and she was honestly confused as to why it was so hard to choose the obvious right answer.

‘’Alright, I'm in.’’ Amy lets out, slapping her hands onto the sheets with confidence and Rosa smiles. Atta girl.

 

\-- 

 

Amy was release from the hospital after five days, not being allowed any visitors except for the two detectives, a sergeant and Charles. At least she was allowed to have Charles over, somebody she actually knows and who wouldn’t talk to her about a case she has no business in, mentally, or say inappropriate jokes, even if they were sometimes funny. 

However, in those five days, she became familiar with Rosa, who seemed to be a stoic but somewhat nice woman. She wouldn’t blatantly talk about anything with her and would often just be silent, but she was always ready to help when Amy needed something.  

So she was relieved to know that the one staying with her at the safe house would be Rosa, but somewhat bashful at the same time. This was moving way to fast, she doesn’t even know what’s happening most of the time about the case that they’re working on!

She doesn’t particularly want to know about the details either, but it would be nice to have some information about a case she now plays a major role in.

So saying goodbye to her small apartment, she packs up six boxes full of items that remind her of home, two of them being filled with literature, small candles and doilies. The rest were clothes and pillows, since she has to have ten of them before being able to sleep well.

She was picked up by the man she now knew as Terry, and he helped her both with moving the boxes out of her apartment and into the temporary one. Terry was a nice and pleasant man, talking on and off about how to behave around Rosa, to be careful around the safe house and his growing family. It was a sweet and confusing combination, but it was fun.

The ride from her place to the ‘new’ one took over 40 minutes, partly because of morning traffic jams, but also because the safe house was literally placed in the outer edge of the city, where the apartment buildings were placed afar from each other and not in rows and rows. Where the people that do live there were either seniors or students saving money.

The safe house unsurprisingly turned out to be a safe apartment, she understands why they instead opted to call it a safe house, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a much larger living room than her own and a kitchen near the entry. The balcony was closed off due to birds using it as a nest.

She wasn’t shocked that Rosa had only packed down one box, nor that it only had three items in it. An axe, a door lock and a bottle of very strong liquor. Without having to know her for more than five days, Amy thinks that this is acceptable.

However when she was unpacking her own boxes, she gets multiple strange looks from Rosa and snaps after the seventh time. “What?”

“That’s a lot of pillows “ she remarks as she places her axe and bottle on the kitchen table, where they were currently unpacking, Amy sitting on the floor and Rosa standing by the table in front.

“ I like to sleep with comfort, not with death” Amy replies, standing up and lifting the box with her and away from the kitchen and into the bedroom next to the spacious hallway. For an apartment at the edge of the city, it was far nicer and bigger than she would’ve expected it to be.

She stays in her assigned room for a while, sorting through the boxes of clothes and placing the pillows on the carefully, creating a mountain of them at the start of the rather big bed, a king size. She is thankful she brought extra sheets, as she doesn’t know who was here before her nor what this bed was used for, other than sleeping.

Amy walks into the bathroom connected to her room, watching her reflection in the wall sized mirror that was approximately 5 feet long, stretching from one side to the other as the shower and toilet stand in front of it. Moderately small, but this will do for now.

She does stop and examine the dressings that were poking out of the hem of her sleeved shirt, still covering and healing the swelling marks, and she leans on the counter, pulling lightly at the medical tapes to reveal the skin beneath and sighs.

There was a popping red mark staring her right into the face, the skin on it just now starting to form and cover the burned flesh, but she had already gotten informed that these will be permanent. They will always be there, vibrant as ever and marked all over her body. If she had stayed in that fire for another minute or two, her skin would have burned in on itself and created hole like flesh wounds.  

She was just done finishing placing the dressings back in place when she hears a knock at the door, and gets out of the bathroom to see Rosa leaning against the door frame “you hungry?”

“Oh definitely! I don’t think I’ve had any food that wasn’t liquified in the last five days” she replies and closes the Bathroom door, then lifts up the empty box by the bed and puts in in the corner. “watcha making?”

“ i’m not cooking, suck at it.” Rosa replies and Shoots her a questioning look back, and Amy immediately gets the message.

She shakes her head vigorously to empathize her point. “Oh no, that’s not a good idea “ The same expression remains.

“Why? Aren’t you a baker?”

“Counter to popular belief, baking and cooking are very different things” She argues back and Rosa crosses her arms together, an unimpressed look plastered on her face.

“How bad can you be?”

“Let’s just say that I once used baking soda to season the turkey for thanksgiving instead of salt, and made everyone in my family sick. It was not a great day” she shudders at the memory and hears Rosa let out a snort. a short and quiet one , but it was there and it made Amy smile a bit.

“Alright, then we’ll just order in for the next however many days. “

“That’s healthy , considering that it's literally the easiest and most delicious way to quotation mark ‘make’ end quotation mark food” Amy jokes and it might be because seeing Rosa  _ actually _ smile made her feel happy and warm inside, and that she would like to see it more often.

Rosa, being one step ahead of her, has already pulled out her phone “Amen sister “

 

— 

 

_“Aren’t you cleared from wearing those?”_ Rosa asks Amy a week after project safe house had been initiated, and Amy raises an eyebrow as she turns her head away from the TV in confusion. 

They had been sitting on the couch and watching a rerun of  _ BONES _ , eating cookies Amy had baked earlier in the day as they argued over which character would get away with a crime. Rosa had chosen Seeley Booth and Amy had picked the much more reasonable choice, Temperance Brennan (in her opinion that was not biased because Brennan was her favorite character).

Rosa had only gotten up to get a can of soda and Amy was continuing to watch the series, to indulged in it and subconsciously scratching at the tapes wrapped around her fingers, which is when Rosa came back and noticed the subtle movement.

Which is what bring her back to reality as she looks away and glances at Rosa plopping back down on her corner of the couch, with both their feet in the middle seat and the bowl of raspberry cheesecake cookies.

“What?”

“The bandages, don’t you like wanna take them off? Aren’t they super annoying to apply? “ Rosa continues, reaching for the remote to mute off the screaming characters. Amy just shrugs and pulls on the sleeve of the red hoodie she was currently wearing, hiding into it as she shifts uncomfortably under the other girls gaze.

It’s not that Amy has a problem with Rosa or something, if anything she feels too comfortable around her, but these marks weren’t really. . . Flattering. “ yeah, I guess, but I want to make sure that they are fully healed before doing that.” She lies, but she can tell Rosa isn’t buying it by her dead panned expression, one that was different from the others in some way.

She wasn’t really that shy about showing off her body, not minding wearing a bikini to the beach or shorts and tanks at the bakery when selling pastries, but now that she has red and even purple spots and blobs there and  _ everywhere _ makes her never want to wear anything else but long sleeves and baggy pants.

“Dude, I know how self conscious one gets about scars and changes, but nobody is going to judge” Rosa sits up straight and pulls off her black jacket, leaving her in a tank that shows off the detectives defined muscles, but that’s not what makes Amy stare at them.

It’s the long scar that stretches from the shoulder blade down to her forearm, a pinkish tint to it that stands out from her otherwise light olive colored skin. It seemed to be an old one, and Amy looks at Rosa for an explanation.

“Six years ago, was chasing a perp up an apartment and reached the roof, where i tripped into a satellite pole and it scrapped up my entire arm. The longest pole made the most damage, the others were just scratches. 18 stitches, was not a fun time” Rosa tells her and Amy nods understandingly, staring at Rosa as she sees a much more vulnerable side of her, a side Amy is sure she doesn’t show often.

“Are you proud of having it?” She quietly asks, and Rosa shrugs, pulling on the jacket again and lays back down on the couch, her back against the arm rest and her entire body facing Amy’s.

“I will sometimes look at it and think that I could have handled the situation much better, but otherwise yes. Shows what I’ve lived through” she smiles softly at Rosa’s choice of words, and pulls out her bandaged hand, staring at it intensely before making a decision.

“I'll take them off”

“And if anyone judges, tell me and I’ll fight them.”

Amy stops wearing them the day after, even though it takes a lot of self control and calming books to finally just not wear the bandages, and when they’re off . . . They’re off.

She still chose to wear a long sleeved shirt, but the marks on her neck and fingers were still there and  _ showing _ and when Rosa walked into the kitchen before heading to work that day she didn’t even stare or say anything, just complimented her with a “ _ looking sharp _ ” and turned back to her coffee, not treating her any different than any other morning.

Which was very nice and . . . _Refreshing for Amy._

And three days after that, she decides to stop wearing hoodies and long sleeved shirts all the time, opting on showing off the marks that are masked all over her upper body. It did make Rosa stop for a moment, but the she just smiled at Amy, a smile that made Amy’s insides gush and look away bashfully. _ It was a wonderful feeling. _

_And it’s all thanks to Rosa._


	5. Twelve thirtytwo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m Having fun exploring these characters in my universe.

\--

 

When Rosa had said “however many days” she didn’t expect it would last more than a week, but it’s been four weeks now and there had been no progress whatsoever in the case. She hadn’t even thought that Captain Holt himself would tell her and Peralta that this case was giving him the heebie jeebies, or rather “the disease of the heebie and the jeebie’s”, and Rosa was unfortunate enough to witness it first class.

 

It was however a hilarious story to tell Amy, who had become familiar with everybody from the precinct quite well in such short time. She seemed to not mind being a target of a murderer, which was weird. Either she trusted the NYPD to do their job right and catch the killer, or she simply didn’t mind being burned alive.

 

The second one seemed far fetched for someone like Amy, so Rosa sticks to the first one.

 

But that day, 31 days after Amy was submitted to the hospital, another body showed up.

 

This time it hit much closer to home.

 

The victim was one of them.

 

A beat cop working the first floor of the ninety ninth precinct, a Seeley Addy, 28 years old and had just started working out in the field was found dead, burned alive, in a dumpster less than a block away.

 

A nearby restaurant had smelled something odd in the dumpster and had called down the local garbage disposal staff to pick up the trash, but when they had arrived with the truck and were lifting the cans they had seen the NYPD badge. And soon after the body was headed into the truck, scarring passerbyers and the staff when they saw the body get tugged into giant machines teeth, crushing it. They were too shocked to be able to move and switch it off, so the evidence was majorly damaged and the only item they had to work with in that one alley was his badge.

 

It was horrifying to know that the arsonist had killed a cop from specifically the same precinct in which the case was currently being held and unfolded, many officers now getting allowed to bring home their guns from their superiors.

 

Immediately when the news had been given out to the police departments, Captain Holt had demanded for Rosa and Jake to return back to their individually assigned safe houses, in case any information had been leaked and that the killer was on the move again.

 

Not having to be told twice, both her and Jake shuffled quickly out of the doors, not even bothering to say goodbye to one another as they both went in their own way, and Rosa had never dreaded anything more in her life.

 

It’s a long ride to the apartment and there had been midday traffic, and Rosa was confused as to why she had even chosen to live anywhere near here, since the only real challenge here was the fucking streets that never moved, or the crimes that were just being handed out to precincts like Oprah was running the entire goddamn NYPD.

 

Rosa was fond of swearing, and if people could hear her thoughts they would surely move out of the way so that she could get through. She does open up the sirens she keeps on her motorcycle just in case, and speeds through the middle road between cars. Captain Holt would understand if she gets a complaint about this.

 

She continued to swear as she speed through the highway, going way over the speed limit and really testing out the power her motor cycle had, appreciating haven chosen the expensive one instead. She gets there in 30, and as she pulls up to the apartment she doesn’t even bother to lock or even stand her bike, she just hops of off it and hears it fall to the ground, worrying about the damage that might’ve been caused later.

 

The apartment is on the seventh floor and the elevator was out of use, so she took a deep breath and started sprinting up the staircase, bracing herself for memories of the old days, when she was in the academy and training to be a detective. She has never been more thankful for those drills.

 

She unlocks the door and throws it open as soon as she arrives, stepping in and breathing heavily. “Amy?” She lets out, loud enough that she thinks she hears an echo go through the apartment, or that might be the blood pulsating in her ears.

 

Rosa’s heart stopped beating at the second of quietness after she shouted out Amy’s name. It felt deserted,it felt far too empty, and maybe she was......

 

“Yeah?” Came a muffled reply from further into the apartment, the other girl coming into view as she enter the kitchen, pajamas on and her hair dripping onto the towel around her neck. Even in such plain pajamas she still managed to take Rosa’s breath away, and the sudden fact that she had just ran up seven flights of stairs caught up to her, the sudden urge to breath in and out necessary. Why were humans so weak?

 

Amy looked fine, in fact she looked great, and Rosa walked carefully closer. The other girl seemed to notice her odd behavior, since she asked her what was wrong as Rosa kept getting closer, stopping only to examine her face closer. They were so close, and Rosa could feel Amy’s breath hollowing when she brought her hands up to lightly grasp her cheeks.

 

“You’re not hurt” she lets out under her breath, and Amy was taken back at the sudden spring of action. Rosa hugged her. A quick motion, her arms going around Amy’s waist and tugging her closer was all it took. She wholeheartedly hugged her, relieved to see her standing there, to not be dead or burned or even touched by anyone who intended to do harm, and she loved it. She feels Amy wrap her own arms around her after a second of hesitation, and soon they were just standing there quietly, hearing the other breath.

 

Rosa’s breathing was soon back to normal as she could now take deep breaths, and she lets go, but doesn’t move away as her hands cup her neck, turning it to side to confirm that Amy was in fact not hurt.

 

“Im sorry but is something wrong? Am I supposed to be hurt?” Amy asks again and Rosa huffs out a small laugh, then pulls her into another hug, this one catching both of them by surprise. Rosa can’t say she doesn’t enjoy being so close to Amy, and she laughs again, this time a longer and well formatted one. She was honestly relieved. So, so, so relieved but at the same time there’s a tug at her heart, scaring her.

 

“Not to say that I’m not enjoying this or anything, but I would like to know what’s going on so that I don’t start freaking out” Amy says when that one is over, and Rosa nods. Of course she wants to know what drove Rosa to act so unnaturally, who wouldn’t want to after seeing Rosa actually hug someone.

 

“ Later, I just need to go and lock my bike real quick before anyone steals it. Also, lock the door and don’t stand in sight of any windows “ Rosa replies, already backing away and out of the door

 

“A-Alright? “

 

\--

 

It doesn’t go unnoticed that after that unfortunate event, something shifts between Rosa and Amy’s relationship. After Rosa had explained the situation and laid out all the information about the last murderer, Amy had thought she would be much more paranoid about this entire situation, that maybe she would have a nagging feeling that keeps warning her about whatever and keep her awake at night, but no.

 

Everything seemed to be just as fine, and everything seemed to be about the same.

But not this night. This night Amy could already feel growing worse and worse as she kept scratching at her arm and neck, kept tracing the scars on her arm and not being able to focus her mind. The book on her lap forgotten as she closes her eyes for a moment on the couch, taking in a deep breath and trying to even out her breaths.

 

There’s something wrong about tonight, and maybe it was the fact that this was Rosa’s first time working late after the last murder eight days ago. Jake Peralta was over an hour ago with two bags of food from Charles, along with a ton of notes and books from Terry, so it wasn’t that she had nothing to do. He had even stayed for twenty minutes and they had a rather pleasant talk, or mostly banter.

 

But there was still something on her mind, her conconsions telling her over and over again that she was not alone in this apartment. That there was somebody else just around the corner, staring at her.

 

The time showed twelve thirtytwo, the clocks ticking making her shake as it suddenly sounded so loud that they were piercing her ears, like a sudden pressure pushing its way into her brain, and she could barely breathe. It hurt just to take a single breath, her throat dry and pulsating. It felt like she was drowning in a desert.

 

She couldn’t sleep in this state, she could barely keep her eyes closed for a moment before the nagging screamed at her to open them, and she gave in to that voice every time.

 

She can’t do this, and the clock was still twelve thirtytwo. She can’t do this.

 

Amy struggled to get up when she felt her legs being pierced by a thousand pins and needles, her arms giving up on her and pulling her body to the edge of the couch, her side aching from the uncomfortable book pushing into it, and she can’t muster the strength to throw it at that clock.

 

That damn clock that still read twelve thirtytwo.

 

That fucking clock that read twelve thirtytwo.

 

She manages to stand up for a second, but her legs give out on her again, and she collapses down to the floor, and she chokes down a sob but the tears are already falling down like a river, and everything seemed to be thrown at her at once.

 

The pressure, the aching, the pins and needles, the piercing in her ears, the reality that she was going to die right then and there because there was somebody else in the apartment.

 

Everything seemed to be so big and she felt so small, so goddamn small and useless and fuck, everything seemed to be so fucking pointless when you’re faced with death.

 

Amy blinked open her eyes, making the tears fall down and officially stop, when she felt herself get tired, and when she stretched her back everything seemed to be quiet. And as she turned her head towards the clock, she noticed a sticky note underneath it.

 

‘’Change the batteries’’ it was written in her hand writing.

 

What time is it?

 

—

 

Rosa groaned as she dragged herself up the last couple of stairs, the bag she was holding wobbling her to the side as her fatigued body couldn’t hold straight for much longer.

 

She throws the bag to the side of the door and shuffled out her keys from her pockets, cursing when her phone gets pulled out after and drops to the ground. She would have normally been able to catch it, but her reflexes are way out of line at the lack of sleep these last few days.

 

She was picking up her bag and just reaching down for her phone when the door slams into her, pushing her to the ground and throwing her bag down a flight of stairs. ‘’What the f-’’ then she was punched.

 

Admittedly, it wasn’t the worst punch she has ever felt, but it certainly stung. And when Rosa was just taken aback by the first punch, she could see the second on coming right behind it in the corner of her eyes.

 

She grabbed on to the oncoming hand and pushed her body to the side, affectively throwing down the body above to the ground besides. Before the attacker could get up, Rosa pulled herself up and pushed down their wrists, straddling their abdomen and reaching forward to grab her phone, to call in an arrest when she now recognizes who it was.

 

‘’Amy?’’

 

Not having really taken in who was attacking or how they had looked, she was baffled to notice the trembling girl underneath her, shaking and crying. Rosa quickly let go of her wrists, pushing herself away from above her and helping the other girl sit up.

 

‘’Rosa?’’

 

‘’Yeah, are you okay?’’

 

‘’I’m sorry’’ Amy ignored her question. 

 

‘’For punching me or for nearly throwing me down the stairs?’’ She huffs out, venom coating her words as she rubs her sore cheek, and she feels Amy stiffen up besides her, her eyes averting away and looking everywhere but not at Rosa. If Rosa wasn’t such a cold hearted bitch, Gina’s words, she might’ve apologized for saying that. But the sleep deprived and newly punched detective didn’t apologize for it.

 

‘’... both?’’ She sniffled out, and Rosa’s anger derails. This girl was just trying live under standards that were thrown at her out of the blue, Rosa should give her credit for being able to stay sane for this long.

 

‘’no worries, at least now I can sleep knowing you punch intruders so hard.’’ She lightly jokes, throwing in a smile at her but there’s just a long silence stretching through, and Amy lowers her head down, her arms itching around Rosa’s waist and her head softly on her chest. Rosa could feel her heart beating faster, and quietly wonders if Amy could hear it. She possible could, since her face was literally smushed against her chest.

 

‘’I’m sorry’’ she hears Amy mumble out again, and Rosa closes her arms around her, holding her tighter and letting out a sigh, it was about time Amy realized the situation she was in.

 

‘’lets go inside’’ Rosa mumbled out to her, Slowly lifting her chin to make her look up. Amy carefully nodded, her short, tangled hair getting in the way of her view as it was now mostly blocked by thick strands of unruly hair.

 

‘’Can.. can I sleep with you tonight..?’’ That question shook Rosa and her head snapped back to Amy’s face, trying to read if she was being serious or not, and allegedly Rosa’s mind was not very pg when that sentence came out. Not that it ever was. She could see Amy getting a bit uncomfortable by her staring, she cleared her throat and nodded.

 

This was such an innocent request that could mean so many different meanings, but for now it only meant protection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to go through the chapters before this one and polish things up a little.


End file.
